Stewart, Jonoriginal name Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz ( born Nov. 28, 1962 , New York, N.Y., U.S.American comedian and host of the satiric television news program The Daily Show.

Stewart graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., in 1984 and then held a series of odd jobs before pursuing a career in comedy. In the late 1980s he began performing stand-up comedy under the name Jon Stewart and quickly became popular on the club circuit. By the early 1990s he was appearing regularly on television, and, after hosting the MTV series You Wrote It, You Watch It (1992), he was given his own program, The Jon Stewart Show. Featuring celebrity interviews and comedy sketches, it debuted in 1993 but lasted only two years, despite receiving positive reviews. Stewart, who made his big-screen debut in the 1994 film Mixed Nuts, also appeared in a number of films, including Half Baked (1998), The Faculty (1998), and Big Daddy (1999).

Stewart returned to hosting in January 1999 when he replaced Craig Kilborn on The Daily Show, a fake news program on the Comedy Central cable network that satirized media, politics, and pop culture. With Stewart as anchor, the show increased its viewership dramatically. During the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, its satiric and comprehensive “Indecision 2000” coverage—featuring The Daily Show correspondents reporting from the caucuses and national conventions—became so popular that on election night its viewership rivaled that of some traditional news programs. Indeed, many prominent politicians, journalists, and pundits began to appear on the show to discuss current affairs (and exchange jokes) with Stewart. The program also launched the careers of many of its correspondents, including Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and Lewis Black. The Daily Show earned Peabody Awards in 2000 and 2004 and garnered a number of Emmy Awards.

On Oct. 30, 2010, Stewart and Colbert hosted the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear at the Mall in Washington, D.C. The rally, which drew more than 200,000 attendees and was broadcast live on Comedy Central, was a satiric response to conservative media personality Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally the previous summer. While Stewart and Colbert’s event was chiefly an ironic send-up of the vituperative rallies on both ends of the political spectrum, it also aimed to promote civility in political discourse.

Stewart hosted several awards shows, most notably the Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008. His books include Naked Pictures of Famous People (1998) and (with the writing staff of The Daily Show) the popular America (the Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction (2004) and Earth (the Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race (2010).